Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also called “Freedom Day,” “Jubilee Day” or “Emancipation Day,” marks the day when General Granger arrived in Galveston in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after signing the Emancipation Proclamation. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.

The year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration on June 19. Celebrations reached new heights in 1872 when a group of African American ministers and businessmen in Houston purchased 10 acres of land and created Emancipation Park. The space was intended to hold the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration and today hosts one of the largest celebrations in Houston.

This June, Galveston will dedicate a 5,000-square-foot mural, entitled “Absolute Equality,” on the spot where Gen. Gordon Granger issued the orders that resulted in the freedom of more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas.

We want to celebrate with you for all awareness months and holidays. Please email theofficeofdei@houstonmethodist.org if we have regrettably overlooked any.

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